The present disclosure generally relates to material handing devices used for bagged products, and more specifically to an apparatus for expelling air from a bagged product.
For effective product protection and economical storage and shipment of such products or articles, it is a common exercise to cover the articles with bags made from a flow wrap material, such as polyvinyl chloride or polypropylene soft film. When placed on a conveyor line, the bags are open at both ends. During a packaging process, the bag is first sealed at one end, and then sealed at the opposite end, as the package moves along a conveyor line.
When the packaging is intended to contain an assembly or individual components or a plurality of distinctly shaped articles, a substantial amount of air may be trapped within the interior of the bag during the sealing process. In one embodiment, one of the components or plurality of articles may be significantly larger than other components and the one component or article may support the film in such a manner to cause a tenting effect where there is significant spacing between one of the sides of the film and the other components. In another embodiment, air flow around the bag during the sealing process may cause the bag to be slightly inflated before the second sealing step occurs. If an excess amount of air is trapped during the sealing process, a larger package results, thereby taking up extra space in shipping cartons.
Also, when the sealed bag has an excess amount of trapped air and then the bag is subjected to reduced atmospheric pressure, the bag may burst at reduced atmospheric pressure. For example, when the bag contains too much air, the bag is prone to self-rupturing during airplane transportation. Maintaining an appropriate amount of air in the bag during the packaging process is costly and often difficult. Thus, there is a need for developing an improved air removal apparatus to reduce amount of trapped air in sealed bags. There is a further need for developing an air removal apparatus that may reduce the amount of trapped air in a bag that contains a plurality of differently shaped articles or components in an assembly.